Ubiquitous occurrence of sulfonamides in tropical Asian waters

Abstract

Seven sulfonamides, trimethoprim, five macrolides, lincomycin and three tetracyclines were measured in 150 water samples of sewage, livestock and aquaculture wastewater, and river and coastal waters, in five tropical Asian countries. The sum of the concentrations of the target antibiotics in sewage and heavily sewage-impacted waters were at sub- to low-ppb levels. The most abundant antibiotic was sulfamethoxazole (SMX), followed by lincomycin and sulfathiazole. The average concentration of SMX in sewage or heavily sewage-impacted waters was 1720 ng/L in Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Can Tho; n=15), 802ng/L in the Philippines (Manila; n=4), 538 ng/L in India (Kolkata; n=4), 282 ng/L in Indonesia (Jakarta; n=10), and 76 ng/L in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur; n=6). These concentrations were higher than those in Japan, China, Europe, the US and Canada. A predominance of sulfonamides, especially SMX, is notable in these tropical countries. The higher average concentrations, and the predominance of SMX, can be ascribed to the lower cost of the antibiotics. Both the concentration and composition of antibiotics in livestock and aquaculture wastewater varied widely. In many cases, sulfamethazine (SMT), oxytetracycline (OTC), lincomycin, and SMX were predominant in livestock and aquaculture wastewater. Both human and animal antibiotics were widely distributed in the respective receiving waters (i.e., the Mekong River and Manila Bay). SMT/SMX ratios indicate a significant contribution from livestock wastewater to the Mekong River and nearby canals, with an estimated ~10% of river water SMX derived from such wastewater. Mass flow calculations estimate that 12 tons of SMX is discharged annually from the Mekong River into the South China Sea. Riverine inputs of antibiotics may significantly increase the concentration of such antibiotics in the coastal waters.

Pepper mild mottle virus as an indicator and a tracer of fecal pollution in water environments: Comparative evaluation with wastewater-tracer pharmaceuticals in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…Apart from caffeine and carbamazepine, the relatively high detection rates of human and/or veterinary drugs (e.g. lincomycin, sulpiride, trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole) in Hanoi surface waters agreed with the past studies in Vietnamese surface waters (Hoa et al, 2011;Shimizu et al, 2013). Triclosan and triclocarban have been expected to be chemical indicators which are more closely associated with microbial indicators than caffeine in surface water in Baltimore, the US (Young et al, 2008).…”

Potential ecological footprints of active pharmaceutical ingredients: an examination of risk factors in low-, middle- and high-income countries

“…Indeed, Hughes et al [20] noted that more than 50% of the studies they reviewed were represented by only 14 APIs. More recent studies published after this review [20] tend to highlight the focus on antibiotics within their monitoring programmes [18,79,[91][92][93][94][95][96][97]. This is likely to be related to the perceived irrational use of antibiotics in many Asian countries [79,98].…”

“…This is likely to be related to the perceived irrational use of antibiotics in many Asian countries [79,98]. A monitoring study on antibiotics in five tropical Asian countries (India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines) found concentrations of sulfamethoxazole that were considerably higher than those reported in Europe, USA, Australia and Canada [18]. The study estimated that some 12 tons of sulfamethoxazole was annually discharged from the Mekong River into the South China Sea.…”

“…The excretion or application of animal manures to agricultural land or waterways occur following veterinary/aquaculture use [17,18]. Generally, wastewater undergoes some level of treatment which can be variably effective in removing APIs.…”

Degradation of the Antibiotic Ceftriaxone by Fenton Oxidation Process and Compound Analysis

“…3 The presence of the antibiotic has been reported around the world in rivers of Europe, water surfaces of America water streams of Australia and rivers of Asia. [4][5][6][7][8]10 Antibiotic formulation effluents are well known for the difficulty of their elimination by traditional bio-treatment methods and their important contribution to environmental pollution is due to their fluctuating and recalcitrant nature.…”